Once in a Blue Moon
by meowcubed3
Summary: Tiffany is a lonely violinist who has only her music. When her mom suffers an injury, she goes to take of her. There Tiffany stumbles onto the world of werewolves and there is no turning back.
1. Chapter 1

I close my eyes and tuck the violin under my chin. Grasping the bow, I place my fingers on the strings. I wait for my cue. And there it is. Silence envelopes me. Slowly, I pull the bow across the strings. The instrument emits a high mournful cry. I play in the stillness of the concert hall and,I can imagine the music ringing out across hillsides and mountains. My hand is pressed flat against the neck of the violin as I deftly move my fingers. Suddenly the flutes join in, and I am no longer alone. The other violinists begin to play, and drums softly beat out the rhythm. This harmony continues for a moment longer. Than I sing. In my soft wavering soprano, I voice the words to the song.

"_I light the candle top, but daylight is almost gone._

_The birds have sung their last, the bells call home to mass._

_Seat ye by my side for the night is very long._

_ Something I must tell before I pass along,_

_I joined the brotherhood, my books were wrong to me. I scribed the words of God and much of history._

_Many a year was I, which dwelt upon the sea._

_The waves would wash my tears , wind my memory._

_ I'd hear the ocean breath, exhale upon the shore._

_I knew the tempest blood, its rough I would endure_

_And so the years went by, within my rocky cell, with only a mouse and bird,my friend a mountain bell._

_And so it came to pass I'd come here to Normandy, and many a year it took till I arrived here with thee._

_Dusty roads I walked and toiled the mountains high, through rivers running deep beneath the endless sky_"

I pause and draw in a deep breath. For a few wonderful seconds I just play. My bow moves up and down, creating the notes of this sad melody. Then my serenity is broken. I sing out the last verse.

_"Beneath these jasmine flowers, amidst these cypress trees, I give you now my books and tell the mysteries._

_ Take the hourglass and turn it on its head, for when these sands run out is when you'll find me dead._

_ I light the candle top but, the daylight is almost gone._

_The birds have sung their last, the bells call home to mass._"

I play one last chord, before the flutes give the last few notes. Taking my violin out from underneath my chin, I tuck it under my arm. I then give a small bow with the rest of the musicians, as the crowd gives us a standing ovation.

The curtain falls and we all relax. Everyone starts to chatter excitedly.

"That was great, Tiffany." Says Eddie to me. "If you can pull that off at the next festival we won't need Violet to sing both songs." I grin. Even though Eddie compliments everyone on everything, it is nice to be praised. I shake my head.

"Sorry Eddie. My mom broke her leg, so I have to look after her for a few months." Eddie gives me a fake indignant look.

"Your mother, always ruining your life with her injuries." We both break out laughing.

"Tell your mom hi for me."

"I will."

After saying my good byes I went to change.I hate formal wear, so I change out of my black dress as fast as possible. Now I stand in front of the mirror in jeans and t-shirt, which reads _strangers have the best candy _in big white letters against dark blue background. I examine my face as I wash off my makeup. Big brown eyes draw that one's attention instantly, are my best features. They are slightly darker than my wavy brown hair. A healthy dose of freckles covers my pert little nose. As If these plain features aren't enough, I'm pretty short too. People have told me that I'm pretty and I agree. It's just that I'm not memorable.

I carefully pack my violin away in its case. My mother is lucky that I happened to be nearby due to this Celtic music festival. She lives in the town next to this one. Ever since my dad died five years ago she's slowly gone nuts. About two years ago my mom decided to move to the mountains of North Carolina.

Slinging my duffel bag over my shoulder, I walked out of the building onto the sidewalk. _Wham!_

Before I can even process what just happened, I am down on the ground.

"I am so sorry. Er... are you alright." I press a hand to my head and blink.

"I'm fine, but... Oh Shoot!" I scramble over my violin case and open it. Thankfully the instrument is unharmed. I sigh with relief.

"Lucky for You no lasting damage was done." I do my best to appear dignified. Picking up my things, I finally get a good look at the person that rammed into me.

And apparently that person is guy. A really gorgeous guy. He has dark hair that seems to have a life of its own and his eyes, oh his eyes. After he clears his throat uncomfortably I realize that I've been staring. He reaches down to help me up.

"Are you sure you're all right?" I take a quick inventory.

"Nothings broken or missing." I stick out my hand.

"Tiffany Donovan." He takes my hand and shakes it.

"James Petrovitch." James looks down at my violin case.

"I assume that you're in town for the Celtic music festival."

"Yes, but my mom lives over in Litchfield and I have to go visit her. She broke her leg."

"Ouch. How exactly are you planing to get to Litchfield?"

"Walk."

"You know that it's several miles away, right?" I look sheepishly down at my feet.

"No." James took this information in.

"Well, since I knocked you down I might as well take you." I open my mouth to protest but James holds up his hand.

"Its the least I can do. Besides I live there so it won't be any trouble at all." I consider this.

"All right. It's not every day I get a free ride."

* * *

I am sitting in the passenger seat of James's truck and chatting with him as we drive along.

"So,you are a musician?"

"Yeah, I play the violin. I've been running up and down the east coast with a bunch of other musicians for a while now." He glances at me and I point to the road.

"The driver should keep his eyes on the road."

"You're very distracting." I blushed and said the first thing thaOilt came into my head.

"So are you." This caused James to chuckle and I sank further into the seat.

"I can not believe I just said that."

"I can."

"How come."

"For one, I know just how _distracting _I can be."

"I cannot believe that you just said that. I'm beginning to think that you have an ego problem." But before James can say anything we arrive in Litchfield. As we cruise along main street I see it.

Michelle's Magyk Shoppe.

"No way. She spelled it with a k and y. Unbelievable." James turns to stare at me.

"Wait, a second. Your mom is that Michelle Donovan?"

"Unfortunately." I mutter under my breath. Hopping out of the truck I glance behind me.

"You coming?" He looks up at the bright pink sign.

"I can't exactly let you go in there unprotected."

"And who says chivalry is dead?"

I push open the door and peer inside. The store is so crowded with nickknacks and other useless items that I can barely see past the shelves.

" Hello? Mom? Are you still alive?" I hear a crash towards the back and I cringe. James places a hand on my arm and steps in front of me. Then my mother appears. She is in worse shape than when I last saw her. Her hair has more than a few grey streaks now and her face is lined with wrinkles. But not even her crutches can disguise her energy.

"Tiffany, you came!" I race out from behind James to hug her.

"Of course I did Mom." She kisses me on the forehead before noticing James.

"And I see that you brought the Big Bad Wolf with you." James visibly stiffens at these words. He gives me one long indecipherable gaze.

"Good bye Tiffany. I hope that I will see you again." At that James reluctantly leaves me to care for my mother.

* * *

**Author' s Note**

**Oh, things are just about to get interesting. Apparently Tiffany' s mom doesn't get along with James. Please review and tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

Our loving mother-daughter reunion did not last very long. My mom is the most stubborn and hypocritical person I have ever meet.

"Tiffany, what have you been eating? You look rather chubby." I'm several pounds under weight due to a bad case of the stomach flu.

"What is that smell?" I had taken a shower this morning.

"Your hair! What on earth did you do to it?" My was exactly the same as it was the last time I had seen her.

"Nice to see you too." My mother scowls. Some people say we look similar with our wavy chestnut hair and small builds, but we have completely different demeanours. She gives of an air of superiority and unfriendliness while I'm very unmemorable.

"Don't talk back to me it's very rude."

"Speaking of rudeness, why were you so nasty to James?"

"I suggest you stay away from James Petrovitch. He'll bring you nothing but trouble." I make my way over to a chair that is almost buried in books and plop down it. Pressing my hand to my head I try to formulate a plan.

"I'll just ignore what you said about James so we can actually survive these next few months. How exactly did you break your leg?" She huffed and have me look that said _Isn't it obvious?_.

"I fell out of a tree." I collapse back into the seat and start laughing hysterically.

"Of course you fell out of a tree. What in the world was I thinking? May I ask what you were doing in said tree?" If looks could kill I'd be dead right now.

"You may not." My mother says coldly. "Besides we need to discuss your stay. You need to get a real job." She looks at my violin case with disdain.

"Excuse me! You're the one running the 'Magyk Shoppe'. And you say I need a real job." She chooses to ignore me and continues.

"I assume you finished veterinarian school before you ran off to play the violin. The local vet could probably use an assistant. We have a lot of farms in the area, and she is always very busy." I throw my hands up in mock surrender.

"Alright, I Will look into it tomorrow. I'm pretty tired, so could you show me my room?" She points to tiny staircase crammed in the back of the store.

"I live above the shop. You know Tiffany, running away from your troubles won't make them go away. Even though you quit being a veterinarian, you still have-" I cut her off abruptly.

"You swore never to speak of that again. It's over now."

"It's still there and you know it."

* * *

The next day l wake up sore and covered in bruises. Apparently my first encounter with James Petrovitch left me more damaged than I had thought. I glance at my violin. Better not. I really don't want to face off with my mother right now. Grumbling, I pull on a pair of slacks and a button down shirt. Before I dash down the stairs I grabbed my coat.

When I get outside I inhale deeply. Litchfield really is beautiful, especially with winter approaching. Trees line the street, shedding their autumnal foliage. Birds chatter excitedly and the air is as pure as can be.

I walk along for a couple blocks before reaching a plain white two story building. The sign on the front reads, _Dr. Lakshmi Mistry, Animal Clinic. _

"This must be it." I mutter while swinging the door open. A cacophony of squawks, barks, and hissing greet me. Definitely the right place. A woman appears in the back holding a frantic cat. She looks to be in her mid thirties, but the lines on her face make her seem much older. Her long black hair sticks out at odd angles and dark circles rim the bottom of her almond shaped eyes. Scratchs cover the dark gold skin of her hands and the woman holds the frightened feline as far away from her body as possible. I can't decide whether the woman or the cat looks more upset.

"Dr. Mistry?" She looks up.

"That's me, though everyone just calls me Lucky." Dr. Mist-, Lucky was looking more frazzled by the minute.

"Hello, I'm Tiffany Donovan. I heard that you might have a position for an assistant."

"So you're Michelle Donovan' s daughter."

"I am, and it appears you're not a cat person." Lucky laughs.

"Not at all. You came just in time. In fact I have a job for you right now."

"Really? What is it?" She thrusts the cat towards me.

"Take care of it for me."

* * *

After dealing with that nutty cat and more paperwork than I thought existed, I am thoroughly and utterly exhausted.

"How about we close up for the night now, Tiffany?"

"Yes, Please!" I say gratefully. Lucky and I have really gotten on well, and she has already agreed to hire me.

"Some one sounds tired." Lucky remarks as she pulls on her coat. "You are really good at this. You have a gift. Why did you quit?" I shrug.

"It wasn't right for me at the time." Not quite a lie, not quite the truth. Lucky nods as if she understands.

"I'll see you bright and early next week then."

"Alright." I reply, but she's already out the door.

I leave the clinic and walk back towards to the Magyk Shoppe. About half way there I see a familiar face.

"Hello, James." He smiles and crosses the street.

"I see the old lady hasn't murdered you in your sleep yet." I grin back.

"It's only a matter of time though." James considers this, with his dark eyes glinting.

"Well, when she does, at least the police will where to look."

"Small comfort." I look up at him, since I come up only to his chest. I really don't like being short.

"Anyway, what are you doing out here."

"She made me get a job." James laughs, a deep hearty chuckle that warms me all the way to my toes.

"The Magyk Shoppe lady made you get a job."

"Yep." James slides his arm around my shoulder. It's a friendly gesture, but I shy away from the contact. Things go wrong when I touch people. James looks a little hurt and perhaps annoyed, but he hides it quickly.

"If you aren't too busy we could have dinner some time and I could show you around Litchfield."

"I'd love to. How about next Friday."

"Done. Do you want my number?" I nod and we exchange phone numbers.

"See you then." He calls out as he turns the next corner.

"See you then." I stand there for a few moments with the most stupid grin on my face.

* * *

I awaken to the smells of tea and burnt toast. Stretching, I consider whether to go down or just lay on the bed some more. Then my stomach decides for me. I creep downstairs to see if my mother will give me some breakfast. And I am in luck.

"You're up. Good." My mother frowns at me and hands my a cup of tea. I take a sip and grimace. I prefer to sweeten black tea, and this brew is unusually bitter.

"What's the plan for today." I question before downing the contents of the cup.

"You are going to watch the shop while I run errands." Suddenly she snatched my empty cup off the table.

"Hey!" I stand to take back my cup, but I sit down when she gives me a scathing look. My mother examines the dregs at the bottom of my cup. She occasionally mutters a bit of nonsense before finally setting the cup down.

"I am very skilled in the art of tasseomancy." She offers as an explanation.

"The art of what?" My mother rolls her eyes.

"Tea leaf reading." She shoves the cup towards me. "Now do as I say. Swirl the remains three times."

I raise my eyebrows, but take the cup.

"Then turn it upside down on the saucer sand tap the bottom three times."

I do so and pick the cup back up.

"Now tell me what you see." It is my turn to roll my eyes but I look anyway.

"I see a bunch of blobs."

"Tiffany." My mother says with warning in her voice. I harumph, but look again. This time the sticky dark shapes plastered against the bottom of the cup resemble things.

"I see... a violin." She leans forward.

"What else?"

"There's a crescent moon as well." I squint and turn the cup."And I think that's a key." I pause again.

"Yes, yes, is that all?" She says impatiently.

"And... a noose." My mother inhaled sharply clasps and her hands together.

"Care to tell me what they mean?"

"The violin symbolizes loneliness," I bristle at what I am sure was another jab at my music. "But the moon means love."

"Love?" I repeat skeptically.

"Love." She said firmly. "The key is the unveiling of a mystery."

"What about the noose? I'm guessing that can't be good."

"No." She said with her face as hard as a rock. "The noose means terrible danger ahead." Then she bends her head at an odd angle and raises her hand in such a way that it appears that she is hanging from an invisible rope.

* * *

After my mother leaves to run her errands I climb upstairs and grab my violin. Laying the case on the checkout counter, I lift my instrument out. I stroke the smooth unvarnished wood, before gently placing it on the counter. Then I took out the bow. The violin had been tuned at the Celtic music festival, but the bow needed a little more attention. I tightened the bow as I did every time I played, just as I loosened it before putting it away. Three turns, no more, no less. I take the hardened resin and slid it over the bow hair, so that the bow will play the music that I live for.

I place the violin upon my shoulder. My chin slide perfectly into the groove meant for it and I press the palm of my hand against the bottom of the neck of the violin, just as I had been taught. I grip the end of the bow and decide what to play.

It's a joyful tune that sets one's toes a'tapping and hands a'clapping. I move with movement of the bow and even spin around once. When I stop, someone is applauding enthusiastically. A tall, reed thin woman is standing by the door grinning appreciably.

"That was wonderful!" The blonde lady walks towards me gracefully. I place the violin in its case and slid it under the counter. I feel a twinge of guilt, but I'll put it away properly later.

"Thank you. How can I help you?"

"You're Mrs. Donovan's daughter?"

"I am." She rubs her hands on her dress nervously.

"I am Mrs. O'Seamus. I have a request for you. My husband and I are going out of town for the night, but our babysitter canceled. We have two children, you see." Mrs. O'Seamus looked even more apprehensive, but she hurried on. "I couldn't find anyone else to do it, but then Lucky said you might be willing. I know it's a little short notice, but it's easy money."

"Of course, I'll help." Her relief is written all over her face.

"Thank you so much." She begins to walk out.

"Wait, what time do I have to be there and where?"

"Come at five, and ask Lucky for directions. I'm sorry, but I have to run."

* * *

At exactly five o'clock I showed up at the O'Seamus residence. Lucky had given me the address and even offered to take me there, but I said no. A squat red haired man opened the door.

"You must be Ms. Donovan. Come in, Come in." This cheerful, broad shouldered made me smile in spit of myself.

"Thank you. Please call me Tiffany." Mr. O'Seamus nodded and called towards the back of the house.

"Marisa, come on. We are going to be late." He turned towards me again and smiled again. Mrs. O'Seamus appeared and I realized that they were dressed much too casually for a night on the town. Ratty old T-shirts and jeans were not what I expected.

"I'm so glad you came. The kids are in the living room. I was just about to put a movie on."

"Good idea." She gestured for me to follow her. The kids are sitting in a wreck of a room arguing violently. Mrs. O'Seamus clears her throat and the children fall silent.

"Andrew, Lisa, this is Ms. Donovan. Please be polite." The little girl, Lisa, stares at me.

"You have the same name as the witch lady." Mrs. O'Seamus flushs and opens her mouth, but I laugh.

"The witch lady is my mother, so why don't you call Ms. Tiffany, instead." Lisa considers this for a moment.

" Alright, Ms. Tiffany." Andrew stares at me sullenly.

"I don't see why I need a babysitter. It's not like I'm a toddler, or anything." Mrs. O'Seamus sighs and turns to me.

"All of the emergency information is on the fridge, and you can help yourself to anything in the kitchen. Thank you again." Then she dashed off, leaving me to deal with Lisa and Andrew. Lisa skipped over and grabbed my violin case. I had brought it with in case the kids might have an interest. She opens the case and thrusts the violin towards me.

"Play." And so I do. I play every jig and dance that I know and eventually even Andrew is whirling about the room. When we all plop down on the couch Lisa asks the strangest question .

"What do you know about wolves?"

"Wolves?" Andrew is obviously trying to shush her, but Lisa ignores him.

"Yes, wolves. Have you ever seen one?" I suddenly recall my mother's rude remark to James wonder what that was all about.

"I can't say I have."

"I have. I see them a lot." Lisa leans in confidentiality. "They are my family." Andrew suddenly stands up and drags Lisa off the couch.

"C'mon Lisa, it's time for bed." I follow them closely with violin.

"The wolves are your family?" I question but Lisa pursues her lips and refuses to say more. Before Andrew closes the door to his room he looks at me.

"Could you play something while we go to sleep?" I nod and raise my violin as he leaves door open a crack. The song is one of my favorites, with a name that rolls of the tongue. Ashokan Farewell. Just as the name suggest it is a beautiful song full of sadness, goodbyes and promises. It sounds of lovers parting and mothers kissing their babes good night. As I play I look out the window. For the first time that night i notice that it's a full moon. The round shining surface of the moon seems to smile sadly upon me.

I like to think that the moon is a lonely woman, who longs for love. So, I played for the moon, as well as for Lisa and Andrew. And perhaps the moon gained some small comfort in my music, just as I do. I play under the full moon, and in the distance I think that I can make out the howling of a wolf.

**Author' s Note**

**Did anyone catch my reference to Sarwat Chadda' s the Savage Fortress, in Dr. Lakshmi 'Lucky' Mistry? No? No? Alright, then. Please Review, I know that there's somebody reading this, and I love feedback. Until next time. Peace!**


	3. Chapter 3

After putting Andrew and Lisa to bed I sack out on the couch. I lay there a while trying to figure out what Lisa meant. Finally I gave up, and let myself fall asleep.

The first thing I heard when I woke was some one trying, unsuccessfully, to sneak past me. I open one eye and saw Mr. O'Seamus covered in dirt, grass and some other things I couldn't identify. I opened my other and sat up. Mrs. O'Seamus was also filthy and had twigs and other things stuck in her or hair.

"What happened to you two?" They both looked a little flustered, but Mrs. O'Seamus had clearly prepared for questions.

"We were camping."

"Camping? I thought you were going out for dinner." She raises one eyebrow at this, a feat I have rarely seen.

"If we were going out to dinner, we wouldn't be out all night." I acknowledge this point with a nod and let it go. But I knew that there was something going on here. Too many things didn't add up. No one had said about camping and they definitely hadn't brought anything with them. After they paid me, I said my goodbyes and went back to the Magyk Shoppe.

I rolled my eyes as I did every time I saw that ridiculous fluorescent pink sign. Inside, my mother was precariously balanced on her crutches, trying to hold a box half her size. I sprinted over to her and grabbed the box. Then I staggered backwards due to the weight of it. My mom took a deep breath and relaxed, if anyone can relax on crutches. Almost immediately she started to dictate where I was to place the contents of the box. After a few moments of silence I finally spoke.

"Well, you sure know how to pick 'em."

"What?" I sigh, and explain myself.

"I mean, that this is one weird little town you have here." She doesn't even look up, and just continues to rummage through the box.

"How exactly is it weird?"

"For one thing, the place was almost deserted last night. It was like a ghost town from out of one of those old westerns. Then I got lied to, to my face. And I thought I heard wolves howling. Are wolves even native to North Carolina? Oh, and then there's the fact that you live here, and that means that there's definitely something strange going on."

"You're just paranoid." I huff at this, but otherwise ignore this comment.

"I'm not an idiot, Mom. Somethings up. I want answers!" She hobbled over to me and sneered.

"And I want a million dollars, a trip to Hawai'i, and a decent cup of coffee. It doesn't look like either of us are going to get what we want." I dropped the box and placed my hands on my hips.

"I don't even know why I came. You clearly don't want me here. You've been glaring at me since I've arrived." Only my mother can look intimidating on crutches. She got so close to me we were almost nose to nose.

"Listen, Tiffany, I honestly have no idea why you ended up here. Something is going on, something that I haven't completely figured out yet. But when I do, be assured that I will not tell you." At this she backed down, but I wasn't done.

"You know exactly why I came here! To help, you since you fell out of a freaking tree!" I was waving my arms now and I could feel my face getting redder.

"Maybe that's it, maybe it's not!" She drew herself up as far as she could and stared me down.

"Why can't you give me a straight answer for once?" I just about scream with frustration. My mother gives me a mocking look.

"And what would be the fun in that?" I clench my fists and consider the conversation so far. And I finally found a hole in her defense.

"You didn't fall out of a tree did you?" She presses a hand to her forehead and refuses to meet my gaze.

"You didn't fall out of a tree!" I crow triumphantly. Then in all seriousness, I ask: "Then how did really break your leg?"

"If you're so smart figure it out on your own!" My mother moved as fast as she could out of the shop, leaving me to unpack the merchandise. I had grown use to my mother's immaturities and proceed to clean up her mess. After that was done I turned on her dinosaur of a computer. My .mother has a strange relationship with technology. She owns an iPhone and an awesome stereo, but her computer is bulky, slow and slightly outdated. I have no idea why she still has it.

Even though her computer is evil, it still has internet access, no matter how slow. And at the moment at least the internet can answer some of my questions. I looked up wolves in North Carolina.

It turns out that there are, indeed, wolves in North Carolina. Red wolves are native to the southeastern seaboard of the U.S. The look very similar to coyotes and are much smaller than their cousins the grey wolf, also known as the timber wolf. They are endangered, with less than 300 left in the wild. I kept on searching and found that the nearest place to see red wolves was up in Ashville, which was some ways away from Litchfield.

Even though I had learned that those wolf howls were easily explainable, I still felt that there was something weird about this place, and it wasn't just my mother.

* * *

The following week was uneventful. My mother was still mad at me and the tension in the Magyk Shoppe was palpable. My work at the clinic was primarily paperwork and cleaning out cages. Still it was steady work, which was more than could be said when I was part of the music group. But, I still missed being able to play my violin every day, and being surrounded by people who understood me. I missed my music and my friends. Everyday, I counted how much time I had left here. I was miserable.

On Friday, I was looking forward to getting off work since, that was when I had scheduled dinner with James. James was one of the few things I liked about Litchfield, him, Lucky and the scenery. Then about half an hour before closing time, a huge storm rolled in. The clouds had looked dark and ominous all day, but I hadn't expected the torrential downpour they preceded. I stared at the window at the rain, as Lucky came over and dropped a stack of papers on the desk.

"Here, do these and you're done for the day." I looked at the papers and then at Lucky.

"There's no way I'm going to finish these before six." Lucky opened her mouth to argue with me bit the phone rang. She picked it up and gestured to me that we would continue in a moment. Lucky spent several minutes on the phone, her expression getting graver and graver. Finally she hung up and started to put on her coat.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I got a call to come down to one of the farms. Something happened." She replied as she opened the door. Lucky got a blast of wind and rain in her face when she tried to go out. She staggered backward and shoot a pleading look at me.

"Could you please stay here until I get back?" I sighed, but said:

"Fine, I'm going to miss my date anyway."

"Thank you!" Lucky looked incredibly grateful as she ran out the door. I sigh, for what seems to be the millionth time today and pick up my phone to call James. He didn't answer until the third ring.

"Hi James, this is Tiffany."

"Hi, I was just about to call you." He sounded extremely frazzled.

"Yeah, listen. I'm up to my neck in paperwork right now, and Lucky had to make a house call. I'm really sorry, but I'm not going to make it tonight."

"Well, everything works out now. I can't make it either." I feel a tinge of disappointment even though I was the first to cancel.

"How about we reschedule for tomorrow?" I ask.

"Sounds good." Then James hung up on me. I feel even more depressed now, and the weather was not helping. I stared out the window and watched the storm rage on.

I had fallen asleep when a clap of thunder awoke me. I looked around groggily until I realized where I was. When I was fully awake, I picked up the pile of paperwork I had completed. I looked at the clock. It was ten thirty. I groaned and muttered obscenities under my breath. Then the door swung open, letting in water, wind and cold air. Three men came in, carrying something I couldn't make out. I recognized Mr. O'Seamus immediately due to his fiery red hair and immense girth. The other two I didn't know, one barely taller than me, with hair so blonde it bordered on white and the other with jet black hair and with slanted eyes that announced Asian origins. I rush over to them. The blonde turns to me.

"Where's Lucky?" He asks with his eyes glancing around wildly.

"She's not here. What's wron..." I trail off because I can see what they're carrying.

It's a wolf. A wolf with luxurious black fur and silver markings on its face and back. Definitely not a coyote like red wolf. Then I notice the long gashes down one of the wolf's flanks.

"Holy shit." I mutter.

"Where's Lucky? We need her right now!" The blonde demanded again. I drew myself up to my full, meager height.

"Lucky is out right now, so you're going to have to deal with me." The blonde glared, but nodded.

"Alright move it in here." I gestured toward the examination room. They did so and I washed my hands to prepare for treating the, erm, dog. I pulled on gloves and walked over to the animal.

"He bites." The dark haired one warned.

"That's what sedatives are for." I said mostly to myself. After injecting what I hoped was enough to keep the poor thing under I began to clean the wounds. They were fresh, but there seemed to be some sort of infection, because there was pus oozing out of the gashes. I cleaned them with alcohol and started to stitch the sound as. The dog moaned in his sleep, and my heart went out to the unconscious creature. After I finished stitching I stuck a cone on the dog and turned towards the men.

"I'm going to keep him overnight for observation. I would appreciate you telling me what happened to him." The blonde crossed his arms and scowled.

"We don't know you, why should we trust you?"

"Because Lucky left me in charge " The blonde growled at me. That was it. I had had a crummy day, and I was sick of people walking all over me. My anger boiled over.

"That's it! Out!" I pointed the door. The blonde or really grumpy guy as I was thinking of calling him, raised an eyebrow.

"You can't be serious, little girl." I marched over to him and tried to look him in the eye. I really hate being short.

"You heard what I said, out!" I knew I was being unreasonable, I mean it was their animal after all, but again I was sick of having no control. The blonde opened his mouth to say something but, Mr O'Seamus intervened.

"Come on, Richard. Lucky trusts her and so do I." He turned tome. "We were just leaving." I glared at them until the exited into the harsh elements, for it was still storming. When I was satisfied they were gone I sank into my chair, where I fell into a blissful sleep.

* * *

When I finally woke up the first thing that I noticed was that the storm had stopped. The second thing was that the dog was awake and had somehow managed to maneuver the cone off himself. I stretched and grievances before standing up to go over to the dog. He was huge, coming up past my waist. I didn't even want to think about how much he might weigh. He came over and nuzzled me. I sank my fingers into his long, soft fur as I had secretly wanted to ever since I saw him. I knew I should check his stitches but, I didn't want to think about that at the moment. He whispered and rolled over on to his back. I did the only thing I could. I knelt down, rubbed his tummy and started crooning, _who' s a good boy? You are, oh yes you are. _I stopped when I heard someone cough uncomfortably behind me.

Lucky was standing in the door, her hair askew and with this ridiculous grin on her face. If dogs can look embarrassed, this one did. He sat up and whimpered a little.

"What happened?" I asked, standing up.

"Clearly nothing as interesting as what happened here." She walked over and bent down so she was eye level with dog. "Isn't that right, good boy?" The dog growled in response.

"Mr. O'Seamus and two other guys brought him in. The poor fella needed stitches, which I should probably check right now." Lucky blocked me.

"No need for that. Let me do it." I moved around her.

"They're my stitches, so I should check them." I practically dove for the dog, my stomach churning with expectation of what I might find. The wounds had healed perfectly and completely, just as I had dreaded. I had no idea how I was going to explain this to Lucky. I turned around slowly, trying to think of some reasonable explanation, but Lucky beat me to it.

"Now, Tiffany, I want you to listen to what I am about to say. It may be hard to believe, but it is true." She took a deep breathe and continued. "The reason that creature healed so quickly is because it's not a dog. It's a werewolf." The first thing that ran through my head at this statement was_ Oh thank God, it wasn't my fault._ The second thing was,_ Did she just say werewolf? _I backed away slowly, eyeing both Lucky and the so called werewolf with caution. Lucky advanced forward.

"I know you don't believe me but, I swear it's true. I'm a werewolf, and the one over there is James." She turned around to face the dog. "Might as well turn now. She's never going to believe me otherwise."

What I saw next will haunt me the rest of my life.

Bones cracked as they rearranged themselves. Muscles tore and attached, while skin stretched and changed shape. The canine features morphed into those of my friend. The body of the wolf moved in ways that could not be possible, until it became the body of James. I closed my eyes, more to preserve my sanity than to save James's dignity. Lucky tossed a blanket to James.

"There are some clothes in one of the cabinets." As James got dressed Lucky came over me.

"I must be going crazy."

"No you're not, Tiffany. This is real all of it is real." Lucky said soothingly.

"Oh God! Why does this stuff always happen to me?" I moaned. Then I did the only thing one can do when faced with something life altering. I ran.

I dashed out the door and into the street, with no idea of what I was going to do. I'll I knew was I couldn't go back to the clinic or to the Magyk Shoppe.

"Tiffany!" I looked behind me. It was James. His dark hair was tousled and I could see nothing but concern on his chiseled face. He was wearing a buttondown and in his hurry to get dressed he had buttoned it wrong, so the shirt was lopsided. I might have teased him about it, if the circumstances were different.

"Tiffany, I know this is a lot to take i-" I cut him off.

"I would think so!" I started to move my hands about frantically. "I just found out werewolves existed! What's next? Vampires? Fairies? The Easter Bunny!" James winced at the volume of my voice. "You are going to leave me alone for the next few days, so I can decide exactly how I feel about this whole business." I knew that James was considering disobeying my wishes and dragging me back to the clinic to try and talk some sense into me, but I was having none of that. "Until then, adios!" I spun on my heel and marched off with no idea where I was going and leaving a very flustered James behind.

I wandered to the edge of town with so many thoughts racing through my head. Finally, I just sat down on the ground and put my head in my hands. Then I heard a twittering noise. I looked up. There was a bird in front of me, it's wing bent in an angle that could not be natural. The storm had knocked down tons of branches, leaving a massive mess around the town. The poor thing had probably been injured in the storm.

I picked the bird up gently, trying not to hurt it even more. Standing up, still cradling the bird with the injured wing, I considered what to do. There was no way it could fly in this condition, and I couldn't go back to the clinic and face Lucky just yet. But I couldn't let the poor thing suffer.

"How horrible," I said to the bird. "For a thing of the sky to be trapped on the ground." And then I knew what to do. Suddenly I felt very tired, and very dizzy. I stumbled backwards trying not to drop the bird, which was cooing in alarm.I didn't want to hurt the bird, so I act on instinct. I threw the bird into the air.

The bird flew.

**Author' s Note**

**Phew, I am so glad to get that chapter off my chest. Over 3,000 words! I am just going to add that this chapter started off extremely lighthearted and slightly funny. But Tiffany had all drama queen on us. Don't tell Tiffany but, her mom is my favorite character. Unfortunately, you can't see how awesome Mrs. Donovan is, because Tiffany ruins her moments. Man, I am messed up. Griping about a character I made up. Moving on I like to thank Vamp4eva for being my first reviewer. I would greatly appreciate it if you followed Vamp4eva' s example and reviewed. So, until whenever, sayonara.**


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